Anaklia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Anaklia
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pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Georgia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Region
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subdivision_name1 = Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
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latd=42|latm=24|lats=22|latNS=N
longd=41|longm=35|longs=29|longEW=E
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Anaklia (Lang-ka|ანაკლია) is a townlet ("daba") and seaside resort in western Georgia at coord|42|24|22|N|41|35|29|E|type:city|display=inline,title. It is located in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, at the place where the Enguri River (Inguri) flows into the Black Sea, near the administrative border with Abkhazia.

History

The earliest settlement on Anaklia's territory dates back to the mid-Bronze Age and is typical to the Colchian culture. It is the Classical "Heraclea" of Colchis, "Anaclia" of later authors, and "Anarghia" of Archangelo Lamberti and Jean Chardin (both the 17th-century travelers). After the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, it was an important fortified town, sea port and fishing station within the Principality of Mingrelia. [W.E.D. Allen. Two Georgian Maps of the First Half of the Eighteenth Century. "Imago Mundi", Vol. 10, 1953 (1953), pp. 99-121.] In 1723, the town was captured by the Ottoman Empire and converted into its maritime outpost and slave-trading locale. During the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), Anaklia was taken by the combined Russo-Georgian army under General Totleben in 1770.

In 1802, Kelesh-Bey Sharvashidze, the pro-Turkish ruler of the neighboring Principality of Abkhazia, capitalized on the internecine feuds in Mingrelia, and forced Prince Grigol Dadiani of Mingrelia into surrendering Anaklia, taking Grigol’s son and heir, Levan, as a hostage. When Mingrelia accepted the Russian protectorate in 1803, the Russian commander in Georgia, Prince Tsitsianov, demanded that Kelesh-Bey release Levan. On his refusal, Tsitsianov sent Major General Ion Rykgof into Abkhazia. In March 1805, the Russians took hold of Anaklia and threatened to march against Sukhum-Kaleh, forcing the Abkhazian prince to release Dadiani. The capture of Anaklia drew an Ottoman protest, however, and Tsitsianov hastened to disavow his subordinate and even apologize for his action, removing a Russian garrison from Anaklia. [John F. Baddeley (1908), "The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus", p. 67. London: Longmans, Green and Co. (Republished 1999, Routledge).] However, the incident added to an increasing tension between the two empires. When the next Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1806, the Russian forces restored Redoubt Kali and Anaklia to the Mingrelian prince Levan who would later relinquish the control of these forts to the Russian administration. Subsequently, the importance of the Anaklia port significantly reduced, but it remained a minor Black Sea Fleet base in the Soviet times.

After the War in Abkhazia (1992-3), a Russian peacekeeping post was opened at Anaklia in 1994. In 2006, the Ministry of Defense of Georgia reported numerous damages inflicted by the Russian soldiers upon the 17th-century fortress of Anaklia and accused the peacekeepers of installing latrines and bathes within the walls of the fort. Following a series of protests by the Georgians, the Russian military post was withdrawn in July 2007. [ru icon [http://lenta.ru/news/2007/07/13/fortress/ Грузия выселила российских солдат из древней крепости.] "Lenta.Ru". July 13, 2007.]

References